[U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual]
[Title Page, Style Board, Extract from Title 44, U.S.C., About This Manual, GPO's Online Initiatives]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
U.S. Government Printing Office
Style Manual
An official guide to the form and style of Federal Government printing
2008
Production and Distribution Notes
This publication was typeset electronically using Helvetica and Minion
Pro typefaces. It was printed using vegetable oil-based ink on recycled
paper containing 30% post consumer waste.
The GPO Style Manual will be distributed to libraries in the Federal
Depository Library Program. To find a depository library near you,
please go to the Federal depository library directory at
http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/public.jsp.
The electronic text of this publication is available for public use
free of charge at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/index.html.
Use of ISBN Prefix
This is the official U.S. Government edition of this publication and
is herein identified to certify its authenticity. ISBN 978-0-16-081813
-4 is for U.S. Government Printing Office official editions only.
The Superintendent of Documents of the U.S. Government Printing Office
requests that any reprinted edition be labeled clearly as a copy of
the authentic work, and that a new ISBN be assigned.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC
area (202) 512-1800
Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC
20402-0001
ISBN 978-0-16-081813-4 (CD)
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE STYLE MANUAL
IS PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION AND AUTHORITY OF
THE PUBLIC PRINTER OF THE UNITED STATES
Robert C. Tapella
------------------------------
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
STYLE BOARD
M. Michael Abramson, Chairman
Ernest G. Baldwin Kevin M. Lane
James T. Cameron Barbara Day Prophet
Tony N. Gilbert Margaret V. Ross
Michele Y. Harris Andrew M. Sherman
Yalanda Johnson Pamela S. Williams
---------------------------------
Ex officio
Olivier A. Girod, Managing Director, Plant Operations
John W. Crawford, Production Manager, Plant Operations
Dannie E. Young, Superintendent, Pre-Press Division
M. Michael Abramson Terence D. Collins Kenneth C. Puzey
Foreperson Foreperson Foreperson
Proof and Copy Proof and Copy Proof and Copy
Markup Section Markup Section Markup Section
Shift 1 Shift 2 Shift 3
----------------------------
JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING
Representative Robert A. Brady, Chairman
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Vice Chairman
Representative Michael E. Capuano Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Representative Susan A. Davis Senator Patty Murray
Representative Vernon J. Ehlers Senator Robert F. Bennett
Representative Kevin McCarthy Senator Saxby Chambliss
---------------------------
Previous printings of the GPO Style Manual: 1894, 1898, 1900, 1903,
1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1917, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928,
1929, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1945, 1953, 1959, 1962, 1967,
1973, 1984, 2000
EXTRACT FROM THE
PUBLIC PRINTING LAW
(TITLE 44, U.S.C.)
Section 1105. Form and style of work for departments
The Public Printer shall determine the form and style in which the
printing or binding ordered by a department is executed, and the
material and the size of type used, having proper regard to economy,
workmanship, and the purposes for which the work is needed.
(Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1261.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., Section 216 (Jan. 12, 1895, ch. 23,
Section 51, 28 Stat. 608).
About This Manual
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
By act of Congress the Public Printer is authorized to determine the
form and style of Government printing. The GPO Style Manual is the
product of many years of public printing experience, and its rules are
based on principles of good usage and custom in the printing trade.
Editors and writers whose disciplines have taught them aspects of
style different from rules followed in this Manual will appreciate the
difficulty of establishing a single standard. The GPO Style Manual has
served Federal printers since 1894, and with this 30th edition, the
traditions of printing and graphic arts are carried forward in the 21st
century.
Essentially, the GPO Style Manual is a standardization device designed
to achieve uniform word and type treatment, and it aims for economy of
word use. Such rules as are laid down for the submission of copy to
GPO point to the most economical manner for the preparation and
typesetting of manuscript. Following such rules eliminates additional
chargeable processing by GPO.
It should be remembered that the GPO Style Manual is primarily a GPO
printer's stylebook. Easy rules of grammar cannot be prescribed, for
it is assumed that editors are versed in correct expression. Likewise,
decisions on design and makeup are best determined by the individual
publisher to meet the needs of the intended audience. As a printer's
book, this Manual necessarily uses terms that are obvious to those
skilled in the graphic arts.
Users of the GPO Style Manual should consider it as a general guide.
Its rules cannot be regarded as rigid, for the printed word assumes
many shapes and variations in type presentation. An effort has been
made to provide complete coverage of those elements that enter into
the translation of manuscript into type.
The GPO Style Board made significant revisions to update this edition
of the GPO Style Manual. The changes include redesigning the format to
make it more modern and easier to read; replacing ``What is GPO
Access?'' with ``GPO's Online Initiatives''; removing the atomic
weights column from the Chemical Symbols table; expanding and updating
time zone abbreviations; listing additional entries to the Post Office
abbreviations; extensively reviewing the capitalization chapter to
remove outdated entries and include new ones; realigning the
abbreviations lists to create a new list of technical abbreviations and
initialisms; updating old and adding new tables to the Useful Tables
chapter; expanding military titles; creating new sample pages for the
Reports and Hearings chapter; providing many URLs as references; and
including many suggestions by users.
Comments and suggestions from users of the GPO Style Manual are
invited. All such correspondence should be addressed as follows:
GPO Style Board
Mail Stop PDE
U.S. Government Printing Office
732 North Capitol Street, NW.
Washington, DC 20401
email address: gpostyle@gpo.gov
For the purposes of the GPO Style Manual, printed examples throughout
are to be considered the same as the printed rules.
Acknowledgments
The GPO Style Board would like to thank the following people for
assistance in the production of this edition of the GPO Style Manual:
Stanley P. Anderson, Editor, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln,
Nebraska, for the new soil orders in the capitalization chapter.
Molly N. Cameron, for technical advice on the Index.
Robert W. Dahl, Cadastral Surveyor, U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Minerals & Realty Management Directorate,
Division of Lands, Realty & Cadastral Survey (WO-350), for his
contribution of the Principal Meridians and Base Lines of the
United States tables.
Cynthia L. Etkin, Program Planning Specialist, Library Services and
Content Management, Government Printing Office, for her technical
advice on the ANSI/NISO standards for publications.
Robert R. Finch, Mark E. Rockwell, Michele L. Spiro, Operations
Directorate, Document Automation and Production Service (DAPS),
Defense Logistics Agency, for their contribution to the list of
military ranks.
Dean Gardei, Brand/Web Manager, Government Printing Office, for the
design of the cover and title page.
Jeremy Gelb, Pre-Press Specialist, Government Printing Office, for
technical assistance in the production of this Manual.
Geography Division, U.S. Census Bureau, for supplying the cities list.
Robert McArtor, past Chairman of the GPO Style Board and U.S. Board
on Geographic Names, who acted as an adviser to the present GPO
Style Board.
Joanne Petrie, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of
Transportation, and Andrew Novick, National Institute of Standards
and Technology, for their assistance with time zone abbreviations.
Betty R. Smith, composition system operator, Government Printing
Office, for technical assistance in the production of this Manual.
Douglas E. Smith, Sr., Internal Printing Officer, Government Printing
Office, for preproduction planning and administrative assistance.
Janice Sterling, Director, Creative Services, and Marco Marchegiani,
Graphic Designer, Government Printing Office, for development and
production of the new design.
Marcia Thompson, Director, Congressional Record Index Office,
Government Printing Office, for revisions to the pages relating to
the Congressional Record Index.
Employees of the Proof and Copy Markup Section of the Government
Printing Office, for their contributions during the production process.
Current users who have contributed many ideas and suggestions that were
incorporated into this edition of the GPO Style Manual.
GPO's Online Initiatives
------------------------------------------------------------------
Printing continues to serve an important purpose in the Federal
Government. Congressional documents, official reports, pamphlets,
books, regulations and statutes, passports, tax and census forms,
statistical data, and more--in printed form these documents represent
a major avenue of communication and information transaction between
the Government and the public. In the 21st century, the Government
Printing Office (GPO) is committed to providing printed information
products for Congress, Federal agencies, and the courts as efficiently,
creatively, and cost-effectively as the most modern technology will
allow.
With the advent of the electronic information age, GPO has also
assumed the responsibility for providing public access to the online
versions of most of the official documents it prints, as well as--to
the greatest extent possible--the online versions of Government
publications that are not printed but are otherwise made available
on other Federal Web sites. GPO recognizes that a Federal author
today often begins the content creation process at a personal
computer, and frequently publishes the final document on the Web,
without creating a print version that will make its way to a user's
hands or a library's shelves. Many Government publications are now
born digital and published to the Web, with few if any copies
printed for traditional public access via bookstores or libraries.
To accommodate this transition in Federal publishing strategies
while preserving the core responsibility for ensuring public access
to Government publications, in 1993 Congress enacted Public Law 103-40,
the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access
Enhancement Act, which required GPO to establish online access to
key Government publications and provide a system of storage to
ensure permanent public access to the information they contain. Since
then, the number of publications featured by the resulting Web site,
GPO Access, at www.gpoaccess.gov, has grown exponentially, as has its
use by the public. A decade later the National Archives and Records
Administration formally recognized GPO as an affi liated archive for
the digital content on the GPO Access site.
To meet continued public demand for online access to Government
publications, provide for an increased range of search and retrieval
options, and ensure the preservation of official Government
information content in the 21st century, in 2004 GPO embarked on
the construction of a more comprehensive online capability, called
GPO's Federal Digital System, or FDsys. Scheduled to become available
for public use in late 2008, the new system will serve as GPO's
digital platform for the production, storage, and dissemination of
official Government publications for the years to come.
GPO Access
Opened to the public in 1994, the GPO Access Web site was GPO's
entrance into the digital age. GPO Access provides free electronic
access to a wealth of important information products produced by
the Federal Government. The information provided is the official
published version, and information retrieved from GPO Access can
be used without restriction unless specifi cally noted. This free
service is funded through annual appropriations provided to GPO's
Federal Depository Library Program.
Under the GPO Access legislation, the Superintendent of Documents,
under the direction of the Public Printer, is required to:
(1) Maintain an electronic directory of Federal electronic information;
(2) provide a system of online access to the Congressional Record,
the Federal Register, and other appropriate publications as
determined by the Superintendent of Documents; (3) operate an
electronic storage facility for Federal electronic information;
and (4) maintain the Federal Bulletin Board, which was then already
in existence.
GPO Access services
GPO Access services are designed to meet the needs of a variety of
users. GPO Access consists of content and links, including official,
full-text information from the three branches of the Federal
Government. Databases are updated based on their print equivalent and
generally date back to 1994.
Users can find information on the Federal Depository Library Program,
which provides no-fee public access to publications disseminated by
GPO, regardless of format. GPO Access enables users to locate a
depository library in their area.
Users may also locate and order publications available for sale
through GPO's Publication and Information Sales Program. Orders may
be placed online securely through the U.S. Government Bookstore at
http://bookstore.gpo. gov.
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government provides learning tools for K-12
students, parents, and educators. The site provides age-specific
explanations about how the Federal Government works, explains the
use of the primary source materials available on GPO Access, and
explains GPO's role in the Federal Government.
Users needing assistance with GPO Access or other dissemination
services may direct inquiries to the GPO Contact Center specialists
available by email (contactcenter@gpo.gov), telephone (1-866-512-1800),
or fax (202-512-2104).
Authentication of digital documents
The increasing use of electronic documents poses a special challenge
in verifying authenticity, because digital technology makes such
documents easy to alter or copy in unauthorized or illegitimate ways.
To help meet this challenge, GPO has implemented digital signatures
on certain electronic documents in GPO Access that not only establish
GPO as the trusted information disseminator, but also provide the
assurance that an electronic document has not been altered since GPO
disseminated it.
In early 2008, GPO authenticated the first-ever online Federal budget
by digital signature. The visible digital signatures on online PDF
documents serve the same purpose as handwritten signatures or
traditional wax seals on printed documents. The digital signature
verifies document integrity and authenticity for online Federal
documents, disseminated by GPO, at no cost to the customer.
GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys)
A critical part of GPO's mission of Keeping America Informed is
ensuring permanent access to published Government documents.
GPO is developing a comprehensive digital content system capable
of managing all known Federal Government documents within the scope
of GPO's Federal Depository Library Program and other information
dissemination programs. GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) is an
integrated content management system which incorporates state-of-the-
art technology for document authentication and digital preservation.
FDsys supports GPO's transformation from a print-based environment
to a content-based environment, in which digital content is created,
submitted, preserved, authenticated, managed, and delivered upon
request. The design of FDsys is based on the Reference Model for an
Open Archival Information System (OAIS) (ISO 14721:2003), which
describes a generalized structure for storing, preserving, and
providing access to digital content over time.
FDsys will automate content life-cycle processes and make it easier
to deliver digital content in formats suited to customers' needs.
FDsys will allow Federal content creators to submit content for
preservation, authentication, and delivery to users. Content entered
into the system will be cataloged according to GPO and library
standards, and will be available on the World Wide Web for searching
and viewing, downloading and printing, as document masters for
conventional and on-demand printing, or by other dissemination
methods. Content may include text and associated graphics, video,
audio, and other forms that emerge.
FDsys capabilities will be deployed in a series of releases. An
internal proof-of-concept release of FDsys was completed in September
2007 to support the last stage of testing. FDsys is scheduled to
become available to agencies and the public in early 2009, beginning
a process of incremental releases. Each release will add
functionality to the previous one. Th e first public release will
provide FDsys core capabilities, including such foundational
elements as system infrastructure and security, and a digital
repository that conforms to the OAIS reference model and enables
the management of content and metadata. This release will replace
the familiar Wide Area Information Server (WAIS)-based GPO Access,
in use since 1994, with enhanced search and retrieval functionality.
For a comprehensive discussion of system capabilities by release, see
the FDsys documentation at http://www.gpo.gov/projects/fdsys--documents.
htm.
Information
The rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and related matters,
as stated in this Manual, will serve well when preparing documents
for electronic dissemination. Most of the documents currently available
via GPO Access are derived from databases used in the printing of
Government publications. However, as electronic dissemination of
Government information continues to grow, the rules as stated in
this Manual will continue to be the GPO's standard for all document
preparation, electronic or otherwise.